HSBC Holdings Plc’s Steven Major is starting to show a little less conviction on two of his big investment calls of recent years: bullish Treasuries and bearish credit. The shift comes as traders shaken by weeks of turbulence across asset classes regain their footing, Bloomberg News reported. In European credit markets, the biggest high-grade sell-off in more than two years has created a short-term buying opportunity, while Treasuries offer little less value given the Federal Reserve’s policy trajectory, the strategist said in a research note.
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Aston Villa have reached an agreement with British tax authorities (HM Revenue & Customs) over a tax bill and are currently not working with administration advisors or insolvency practitioners, the Championship club said on Thursday. The BBC reported that Villa owe 4 million pounds ($5.36 million) and have already paid HMRC 500,000 pounds on Wednesday, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. They will pay another 1.2 million pounds this week.
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The liquidation of collapsed British outsourcer Carillion will cost UK taxpayers at least £148m, according to a report from the government’s auditor, of which an estimated £50m will be paid to auditor PwC for its work in the process, the Financial Times reported. PwC is the “special manager” appointed to the windup process by the Insolvency Service, causing anger among politicians, given its former role also as an adviser to Carillion.
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Investors who backed a rebranding of Cambridge Analytica are in a stand-off with former chief executive Alexander Nix after he allegedly withdrew more than $8m from the scandal-hit data firm shortly before it collapsed, the Financial Times reported. Several people involved in the dispute told the Financial Times the withdrawal came shortly after Mr Nix learned British media was reporting on allegations about his company’s role in a massive leak of Facebook user data in March. Mr Nix did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
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Britain’s pensions watchdog head Lesley Titcomb will step down at the end of her four-year contract in February 2019, The Pensions Regulator said on Thursday. The search for her successor will begin immediately and will be led by Chairman Mark Boyle, the watchdog said. Titcomb, who was appointed chief executive of the watchdog in 2015, oversaw the collapse of construction outsourcing company Carillion Plc earlier in the year and department store chain BHS in 2016, Reuters reported.
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Cambridge Analytica, the U.K. political consulting firm that closed its doors after a scandal over how it harvested data to influence the last U.S. presidential election, now faces a group of Facebook users in its bankruptcy, Bloomberg News reported. “Data Breach Plaintiffs" filed a notice on Tuesday to appear in the company’s New York bankruptcy. The group is involved in two lawsuits against both Facebook and Cambridge Analytica that seek class-action status on claims that about 87 million Facebook users had their personal information taken without permission.
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Lebara, the telecoms company that has already missed deadlines to file its accounts, has promised to buy back a small portion of its distressed €350m bond in exchange for more time to file audited results, the Financial Times reported. The value of its bond has plummeted in recent months after errors in its financial reporting which Lebara’s management described as a “genuine mistake”. The company sells low-cost international phone calls across Europe and is known for adverts that line many of London’s newsagents.
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Thousands of customers of failed British brokerage Beaufort are likely to get all their money back, regulators said on Tuesday. Beaufort, which specialized in helping raise money forsmall speculative mining companies, was declared insolvent in March after the U.S. Department of Justice alleged it had a role in a more than $50 million stock fraud and a laundering scheme involving a work by Pablo Picasso, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story.
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This year has been described as the “year of the CVA”. Barely six months in, it has become the year of the CVA backlash, the Financial Times reported. Company Voluntary Arrangements are agreements with creditors that aim to keep struggling businesses afloat. Recent high-profile cases have allowed retailers such as New Look, Carpetright and Mothercare to impose rent reductions on landlords and to break leases to close some stores altogether, in order to avoid insolvency. But landlords and rival retailers are unhappy with what some are coming to view as an abuse of legal process.
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PwC halved the estimated costs of winding up British brokerage Beaufort Securities on Wednesday, potentially boosting funds for hard-pressed mining companies and other clients that are expected to shoulder the costs, Reuters reported. Beaufort, which specialised in helping to raise money for the junior mining sector, was declared insolvent in March after the U.S. Department of Justice alleged it had a role in a more than $50 million stock fraud and a laundering scheme involving a work by Pablo Picasso.
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